1. Field of the Invention
A surgical stapler for implanting sutures or staples in the fascia, skin or flesh of a human subject, so as to close an incision or wound, or to repair internal organs after an operation on the human subject.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Medical doctors and others in medical science and the healing arts often prescribe an operation as the indicated therapy to correct a medical problem in a human or animal subject, e.g., appendicitis or a tumor, a birth defect, etc., or to repair a wound or injury caused by e.g., a gunshot, an industrial or automobile accident, etc. Clinically speaking, the prognosis for most medical, surgical or dental operations is good, provided inter alia that the surgical incision or the wound, etc. is properly closed after the operation by bringing together the respective parts, such as flesh, fascia, or skin, so as to close the opening in the body and thereby promote healing.
In the early days of the development of the medical arts as a science, it was common practice to close an incision or wound in the body, or in a bodily organ, by suturing the parts together by sewing, using a needle and thread, such as catgut. Such a procedure was lengthy and time-consuming, did not produce tight or ample closure in some instances, and lent itself to contamination of the incision, organ or wound with germs or foreign agents, leading to infection.
A recent development in this field has been the surgical stapler, which has superceded the sewing technique in most cases of medical practice and surgery, whether in the doctor's or dentist's office, in hospitals and clinics, or even in emergency situations in the field, e.g., in an ambulance or the like. In this technique, the skin, flesh or fascia is simply stapled together, typically using biodegradable staples which do not have to be subsequently removed. Prior art surgical staplers are of various configurations, such as the acute angled "ETHICON-PROMIXATE Model 55 W" in which the two arms of the device are squeezed together to release and implant the staple at the head or apex of the device, or the "AUTO-SUTURE" Disposable Skin Stapler, which is shaped similar to a gun, with the staples being discharged from the outer end of the barrel of the device.
There is an abundance of prior art relative to surgical staplers and the like. Among this body of art may be mentioned the following pertinent U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,472,231; 3,777 355; 3,827,277; 3,844,289; 3,949,923; 4,076,162; 4,101,063; 4,111,206; 4,152,920; 4,244,370; 4,263,903; 4,290,542; 4,316,468 and 4,319,576.